STUDIO VISITS is a collection of candid portraits of California artists curated from the files of photographer Jim McHugh. These
images span more than three decades, from 1978 to the present. Jim
McHugh is the pre-eminent portraitist of West Coast
artists. Immediately apparent in his photographs is the great respect
and exuberance he holds for his subjects and their work.

This
insightful archive of historic images is an homage to the Los
Angeles based artists who defined a new aesthetic, vision and
creativity, completely independent of the New York School.

Jim
McHugh’s collaboration with Henry Hopkins and Chronicle Press for
"California Painters: New Work" and Abbeville Press for "The Art of
Light and Space" offered singular views into the
world of these artists.

STUDIO VISITS will be unveiled in two exhibitions. The first begins October 22, with the second opening in April 2012.

Art Historian Kristine McKenna,
author of the award-winning book and documentary, The Cool School, the
definitive work on Wallace Berman and has a long history as a noted
Los Angeles Times writer, has generously contributed her talent and
expertise to this body of work and to the selection of artists
illustrated in the 80-page color catalog, Volume I, accompanying this
first exhibition. Artists included: